-Before we start testing the material properties of this mysterious microbial cloth, we researched the standard testing procedure for testing leather.

Here is the link to the ISO (International Organization for Standardization) standard for physical and mechanical testing of leather.

-We made laser cut outs, with the help of Professor Lima and Jackie Song, of the microbial cloth based on the standard leather test piece shape, which can be found on section 4.4 of the link.

- Much thanks to George Ortega for setting up the Bio-Bath for the Instron and teaching us how to use it. We attempted a first dry test. The Instron was set at an uniform speed of separation of 110 mm per minute (section 4.2 of the ISO of leather testing). Although the test piece teared, the Instron didn't sense the tensile force as the test piece was elongated, which means the program didn't plot a force vs. displacement graph. We believed the test piece wasn't large enough for the Instron's sensors.